Why the U.S. Should be Worried by China’s “Launch on Warning” Nuclear Policy

Video Above: B-1B Hypersonic Weapons Bay

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

China is now implementing a more aggressive “Launch on Warning” nuclear weapons posture which could authorize the use of nuclear weapons as a counterstrike before an incoming first strike attack can detonate, a Pentagon report on China says.

Launch on Warning

The Launch on Warning posture, called “early warning counterstrike” by the Pentagon’s annual report on the Chinese military, could lower the threshold of possibility when it comes to the likelihood of contemplating the actual use of a nuclear weapon.

“PLA writings suggest multiple manned C2 (Command and Control) organs are involved in this process, warned by space and ground based sensors, and that this posture is broadly similar to the U.S. and Russian LOW posture,” DoD’s 2021 “Report on Military and Security Developments involving the People’s Republic of China” states.

The Pentagon report goes on to speculate that China likely plans to keep a certain segment of its nuclear arsenal on a LOW posture.

“Since 2017, the PLARF has conducted exercises involving early warning of a nuclear strike and launch on warning responses,” the Pentagon China report explains.